Bio:

Pretty much all of these details are only known to the other party members because they’ve been around him when we was really drunk. He doesn’t remember telling them any of it, and no one tells him they know because they’re pretty sure he’d simply explode into a pink mist with embarrassment. He does not crack his “professional” shell of commander of the 5th core in that way.

Step 1: Write 5 background and concept elements that you feel are important to your image of the character. These can be a concept overview, a list of important life events, a physical description, a personality profile…whatever you need to get an image in your mind. 5 is just a minimum…more elements are encouraged!

Growing up, Galen had always wanted to be a knight in shining armor out rescuing damsels in distress, just like all the childhood stories he’d heard other parents tell. He always wanted to go out and see the world and do good deeds in foreign places. He and his childhood friends would play adventure. He was always the one good with the crossbow. In those calm situations with all the time in the world, he could shave the plume off a <squirl>’s head at a hundred paces. The sword was always too aggressive, too combative. He preferred cunning and surprise.
He was 17 when the mourning happened.
He didn’t realize it at first, but the closing of the gates was the most traumatic thing that has ever happened to him. Just as he was getting ready and excited about going out and seeing the world and getting away from his parents for good, he’s locked up with them, possibly for eternity.
He and his friends got pretty bored pretty quick. They spent a lot of time gaming in the pubs and drinking. lots of drinking. He really learned to appreciate a good mind-numbing drink once in a while. As time went on, and his life got more ugly, once in a while became frequently.
He was pressed into military service both by pressure from his parents and house to “honor” their family in hopes of not getting the short end of the bread loaf and because he was otherwise going to end up in jail or worse.
He didn’t like it much, except they found a way to put his skills to use, and it does satisfies him to some extent: stick him with all the argumentative misfits, because somehow he can keep them in line and get the job done.
Whenever he’s not on duty, he can be found oscillating between getting drunk and getting sober at the pub, Hammered Time.

Step 2: List at least two goals for the character. At least one of these goals should be one that the character has, while another should be one that you, as a player, want to see developed over the course of the game.

character goal: Get out of the mountain and find out how badly everything has been destroyed. He really wants to see the world and do what he can to fix it or at least save valuable parts of it.
Player goal: <censored>

Step 3: List at least two secrets about your character. One is a secret the character knows, one is a secret that involves him but that he is not actually aware of yet. This will help me in creating plots that center around your character. I will also be creating a third secret which you as a player will not be aware of, so expect some surprises!
He can’t read. He did however acquire his pair of reading spectacles at a fairly young age. He was dared to steal them from the headmaster of the academy. He did it, along with a lot of other things he was dared to do at that time in his life. Some of those other things weren’t as successful, hence getting pressed into military service…
His parents are part of a lower, but still noble, house but he doesn’t tell people about it, don’t want to let it affect people’s opinions of him. Either other nobles thinking lowly of him because of his house or non-nobles thinking he’s a snooty nose-in-the-air noble. That’s why he doesn’t use his last name. It’s just Galen.
<censored>

Step 4: Describe at least three people that are tied to the character. Two of them are friendly to the character, one is hostile. If you like, you can include an enemy of yours here as well, so I have an instant NPC nemesis to throw at you.
Parents… personalities of a poor Jewish couple. His father, Geordon, and his mother Barinda. He doesn’t talk about them but their guilt-trips are regularly on his mind. They are constantly trying to climb the social ladder through manipulation and deceit.
Childhood friends: he doesn’t associate with any of them anymore. They’ve all gone to lives of drugs, crime and squalor or become important noble people that won’t come near him and his disfavored house. <censored>
He’s has made lots of acquaintances along the way that would do him a favor if it came to it, but he’s not that outgoing of a person to go around asking for handouts.
He’s got a knack for not having enemies. The criminals he’s taken down have either gone down fighting to the death, or eventually come around to his way of thinking and even though he was the one that brought them down and to justice, they didn’t think he was all that bad of a guy actually…
He’s got a “secret” admirer: a bar maid at Hammered Time, where he usually does his drinking. She pines over his angsty soul and cleans him up and helps him get home when she can. It’s not a secret to anyone except him that she loves him, he’s just always oblivious to her interests, either because of his angst or because of his drunkenness. <censored>

Step 5: Describe three memories that your character has. They don’t have to be elaborate, but they should provide some context and flavor.

One of my strongest memories as a youth is the last time I saw sunlight. My mother was crying silently as she held me. My father stood by with his jaw clenched tightly, mouthing the word “hurry.” I could see dozens of dwarves evoking the power of their marks, and dozens more straining to close the mighty gates. Through the rapidly narrowing opening I could see the gray tide moving North from what used to be Cyre. It seemed to turn toward me and pick up speed, and I felt panicked and awed at the same time, even though the mist was still hundreds of miles away. As my heart raced and I thought frantically that you and all you that you love would be consumed the gates slammed shut with reassuring finality. You were safe, so long as the gates held.

As a kid, he and his friends would go out and pretend to be characters from the stories, slaying dragons and saving the world. He’s the one that would always find the missing scale on the dragons’ underbellies and hit it with a magical bolt, slaying the dragon. <buddy1> would be the one to go and slice off the dragons’ head to hand on the wall and boast about how he was the one who killed the dragon to the pretty ladies. <buddy2> would always remind them to take the valuable blood and claws and such to sell on the black market. It was tough, later, when Galen had to take out <buddy2> as he had become the head of a crime syndicate responsible for a great number of deaths.

He remembers the day his dad took him to join the guard. He was none too pleased about it at the time. He was a huge smart-ass and ended up with a lot of punishment from it, but he turned around fairly quickly as he realized they were trying to help him and they found ways of using his unique talents.